KTTH OPINION

Rantz: Stolen land? Indigenous Peoples Day is the Left’s excuse to demonize America

Oct 13, 2024, 5:00 PM | Updated: 5:01 pm

Indigenous Peoples Day Seattle...

Indigenous Peoples Day Seattle. (Image is screenshot from Seattle Channel)

(Image is screenshot from Seattle Channel)

Monday marks the celebration of another left-wing virtue signal from Seattle, Tacoma, and other “progressive” cities. It’s Indigenous Peoples Day — when Democrats spend the day smugly patting themselves on the back while pretending to care about Native Americans.

Though the city of Seattle declared Indigenous Peoples Day in 2014, it wasn’t until 2020 that Seattle activists truly leaned into the demonization of America and, by extension, white people. Then, in 2021, President Biden issued an official proclamation for Indigenous Peoples Day, another half-hearted attempt for Democrats to claim they care about more than the ‘B’ in BIPOC, a term they invented post-George Floyd. Seattle is now in its third official year of Indigenous Peoples Day.

The “celebration” has become less about amplifying Native American contributions than equal parts erasing Christopher Columbus and criticizing America.

Consequently, what we’re seeing isn’t some grand effort to lift Native Americans from the struggles they face, but rather a hollow gesture designed to appease a specific woke crowd that treats everything American as inherently evil. This holiday, contrived to replace Columbus Day, isn’t about righting wrongs; it’s about, in part, rewriting history to fit a narrative that paints the United States as a villain, a so-called white supremacist state from its very foundation.

Isn’t Indigenous People’s Day in Seattle just about demonizing America?

Let’s dispel this nonsense about “stolen land.” That narrative comes straight out of the Radical Left’s playbook, designed to demonize the founding of this country. Seattle politicians, left-wing media and fringe activists parrot the same talking points each Indigenous Peoples Day, never once addressing the complexity and reality of history.

The idea that land was stolen from Native Americans is merely an attempt to decry “colonizers” as responsible for societal ills. Indeed, as the Seattle Public Schools said in a resolution supporting Indigenous People’s Day, the holiday is part of a larger effort “to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination stemming from colonization.” Only, they never actually follow through because this is just about getting credit for holding a far-left position.

Yes, wars were fought, and land changed hands, but framing all of it as “white supremacy” is intellectually lazy at best. It’s nothing more than a calculated lie at worst.

American colonization laid the groundwork for the freest, most prosperous nation on Earth. It wasn’t without flaws as judged by contemporary standards and atrocities that should not be left out of history classes. But it ultimately led to the development of a republic that champions democracy and personal freedom worldwide.

Meanwhile, this movement ignores a simple fact: Native American tribes frequently engaged in intertribal warfare over land and other resources. For example, the Iroquois Confederacy waged a major war against neighboring tribes to take control of key fur-trade routes dominated by the Huron-Wendat.

The irony of Indigenous People’s Day celebrations in Seattle

The so-called celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day in places like Seattle is the ultimate irony.

Look at what these cities actually do for Native Americans on this day: a few speeches, some drumming ceremonies, and a flag raised here and there. Meanwhile, they still govern the same land they claim was “stolen” via parody-like Land Acknowledgements or in the biography section of their Instagram and X accounts. Are they making any moves to actually give the so-called stolen land back? No, because deep down, they know the whole stolen land narrative is little more than political theater.

None of these politicians are offering up their office buildings or homes to local tribes. Not a single “progressive” in the Seattle City Council has written up legislation to hand over Capitol Hill or downtown Seattle to any tribe. They already gave it up to socialists and fentanyl-addicted homeless people.

What are these politicians actually doing for Native Americans? Nothing substantial. Check out the Seattle Public Schools website and see how they “celebrate” Indigenous People’s Day. Sure, they encourage teachers to read books or show documentaries about Native American history. But are they talking about real solutions to the issues Native Americans face, like the disproportionately high poverty and addiction rates? Are they pushing for better healthcare or education in tribal communities? Nope. Just another checkmark in the “look how woke we are” box, while pretending it’s decades-old colonizing that’s still to blame.

Selective outrage

Where’s the outrage from these same Seattle and Tacoma progressives over other countries that actually did conquer land? Instead, they advocate for Hamas, a terrorist organization trying to stake claim to the ancestral homeland for the Jewish people. That kind of theft is encouraged because the activists simply reject history if it benefits Jews.

The hypocrisy is staggering. How is it that “stolen land” is a tragedy when it involves Europeans settling America, but somehow not when it comes to wiping out the Jewish state? Because it’s not about the land.

Their primary focus is on demonizing Western countries, particularly the United States; a selective outrage designed to target what they consider “Western dominance” while ignoring or downplaying similar actions by non-Western powers. It’s about dismantling anything they consider part of Western civilization, America and Israel being at the top of that list.

Nothing comes of this virtue signal

So, what happens after Monday’s Indigenous People’s Day celebrations? The politicians return to their offices, still on that supposedly stolen land, and do nothing that actually helps indigenous communities. They don’t address how Seattle’s skyrocketing homeless population disproportionately impacts Native Americans, nor do they tackle the opioid crisis that’s tearing through Native communities. It’s all just lip service, yet it’s their left-wing policies creating the crisis to begin with, though it’s easier for them to blame white supremacy.

Most of the people driving this movement are white Progressives of privilege. It’s the same group that constantly demands the rest of us acknowledge our so-called privilege. If they truly cared about Native Americans, they’d be doing something tangible, like reversing policies that created the crime and drugs that plague Native Americans and the rest of us. Rather than admit complicity and reverse policies, they show up to an event for an hour, wave the flag of virtue, and call it a day.

It’s getting called out by some

Gabriel Galanda is a local activist, attorney, and member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. In an interview with Axios, he criticized the symbolic gesture of Indigenous Peoples Day in Seattle and around the country.

“It gives Americans a brief opportunity to reflect on our existence, but it doesn’t address the legal and civil rights issues plaguing our communities,” he explained.

He’s right. But to be clear, blaming the struggles of any group of systemic anything is merely performative politics.

Native American tribes are sovereign nations with their own governments, legal systems, and economies. While the federal government had played a role in creating hardships—through broken treaties, mismanagement of resources, etc.—tribal governance and internal policies also impact Native American communities. We can’t credit Native American communities for all its successes, while blaming the U.S. government for all its failures.

The Radical Left’s cultural crusade against the West

Indigenous Peoples Day isn’t about healing historical wounds. This isn’t about justice, either. This is about a left-wing cultural crusade that seeks to tear down the country, one symbol at a time. Replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day isn’t about righting a wrong—it’s about playing to the political whims of a radical base that wants to see America knocked down a few pegs.

Meanwhile, Native Americans remain in the same state they were before these celebrations—largely ignored, their real issues buried beneath a mountain of left-wing virtue signaling. If Progressives really cared, they’d stop lecturing the rest of us about how Columbus was the devil and start actually doing something. But, of course, that requires actual work, and they’re much more comfortable with hashtags and attending ceremonial drum performances than with rolling up their sleeves and tackling real problems.

Until then, we’ll just have to continue enduring the yearly spectacle of politicians congratulating themselves for pretending to care. It’s how they celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in Seattle.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, formerly known as Twitter , Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

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Rantz: Stolen land? Indigenous Peoples Day is the Left’s excuse to demonize America